LG AI Research and D&D Pharmatech have entered an agreement to collaborate on the development of next-generation oral peptide drugs, the companies announced following a signing ceremony held at the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea.
Executives from both organisations, including LG AI Research head Woohyung Lim and D&D Pharmatech CEO Seulki Lee, attended the event to formalise the partnership.
The project focuses on the joint discovery and development of oral peptide therapeutics, drawing on AI technology and expertise in peptide formulation.
Peptides play a key role in physiological functions but are typically administered via injection due to their susceptibility to breakdown in the digestive system.
The companies aim to create a tablet-form treatment using AI to improve both the safety and absorption rates of peptide drugs, targeting conditions that currently lack effective therapies.
Under the partnership, LG AI Research will develop models to design and discover new peptide drug candidates.
These models are intended to analyse disease-causing substances at scale and identify optimal peptide sequences, aiming to address challenges that conventional methods have not overcome.
D&D Pharmatech will be responsible for the structural design, synthesis, and evaluation of the selected candidates, as well as formulation for oral administration, and will manage preclinical and clinical development along with global regulatory interactions.
The companies intend to collaborate through a feedback system, in which LG AI Research provides AI-generated candidates that D&D Pharmatech then validates, with the results informing further modelling improvements.
Lim said: “This collaboration goes beyond the simple adoption of technology; it represents a journey toward creating a bio-specialised AI that addresses complex challenges in drug discovery.
“Through continuous advancements in our protein engineering models, we are actively accelerating the development and optimising the design of next-generation peptide therapeutics.”
In addition to this project, LG AI Research is involved in developing other AI-based biotechnology platforms, including oncology analysis tools and the EXAONE Discovery platform for accelerated drug and material research.
